Pages

Monday, 21 February 2011

Koh Samui Getaway~ (Part 1)

Won a 3D2N stay at a nice villa in Koh Samui from last year's Sg Blog Awards (that was in June), and I JUST went for it. The villa was sooo beautiful, but more on that later. ;)

Let's follow how my trip went~

Took Bangkok Airways, simply because it was the ONLY direct flight there from Singapore. And because the only direct flight departs Singapore at 20:00hrs, I decided to extend my stay by a day. I left Singapore on the night of 13Feb, one day before Valentines' Day! So that I can wake up on Valentines' Day, ALREADY in a foreign beautiful land in holiday mode~ ;)

Wah so chio that auntie. LOL~~

Bad poise. How the hell did this girl get into Singapore Airlines in 2006?????? Hur hur hur~~~

Yah, I ugly poise still can get in. You stand straight also cannot. Whachiu gonna do to me, huh? LOL!!!!

Okay la, we all have ugly poses. Tell me who looks glam while using a squatting toilet bowl huh???

I went slightly early to the airport so that I could go the Apple store at T3 (my flight was at T1) to get my iPod Nano.

Because I want to save on 7% GST. This is a tip for you guys. If you want to buy a laptop and are going overseas, go early and get it from the airport! A $2k laptop will save you about $140! ;)

Oh do note that this privilege is ONLY for departing flights. If you're thinking of getting it when you return to Singapore, forget it. GST will apply then.

Yay!!!!!! I got this at $213! Retail price outside is $228~~~ Even Mustafa is selling it at $224~

My very FIRST APPLE PRODUCT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quick! Welcome me to the "i" club!!! LOL~!!!!

Okay, moving on...

Koh Samui!!!!! And I woke up to.......

Breakfast in Bed!!!!!!

Bliss~~~

Koh Samui is an island in Thailand, and I bet most of you have never heard of it. I know many friends went "Where the hell is that?" when I told them I was heading there.

The villa owner has a few dogs, and they're free to roam the place. Don't worry they won't follow you to your room. Alton would definitely havce envied these dogs, they have free roam of the place, a pool to drink from, the sea just in front of the villa to swim in, and for some reason, there were lots of pet clinics, pet shops and pet grooming salons in a small island like Koh Samui. =D

When you do go to the holiday spots in Thailand like Phuket or Koh Samui, do rent a motorbike. If you can cycle, you can ride it. Those for rent are usually the automatic bikes with throttle and brake only. No need to change gear or anything. That was what we did. And it was just 250 THB per day, which comes up to about $11 SGD? Don't bother with a taxi. You see more of the island on the bike. Plus point? You don't have to wear a helmet. No one does. And the police don't really bother, unless you're really unlucky and there were looking to get some mojo that day (and they do sometimes. Heng suay thing). Other than that, helmet-less.

One thing about going helmetless - you feel like the bike's going very fast even when it was just going at 50km/hr. Go slow whilst exploring the island. Enjoy the wind in your hair~~~ (Girls with long hair, braid it up. Else you'll end up with bad tangles after.)

We went off the usual roads, into the paths that only the locals will venture into, and up the mountains...

This was a steep steep road. Halfway up the Scoopy-i (that was the model of this cute little Fino-like bike), the bike couldn't manage and I had to get off and walk up while my travel mate had to walk the bike up WHILE having the throttle on the whole time.

Tip: Rent a higher CC bike if you're going to go off-road. Lol~

FYI, we had to pump our own petrol right? And guess what~

2 Litres of gasoline actually filled the tank up full. 2. Litres...

Okay so we were exploring the mountains and hills right (on the proper roads of course), when we came across this:

The road actually got washed off?!!! OMG~~~

Notice the small trail on the right of the picture? That's a detour for motorbikes. For cars, er...good luck, you gotta do a 3-point turn and head back where you came, and the way up was a looooooooooooooooooong one....

We're city bikers, so don't laugh when we don't feel safe on tracks like that. We had to 'walk' the bike carefully through the detour. In case we fall and drop into the hole in the road just by the side of the trail....

We arrived at Namuang Waterfall, and decided to take the elephants~ It's a Thailand-must-do. Everyone goes to Thailand and somehow they'll find themselves doing some form of elephant trekking. =)

Waiting for our elephant~

The mahout controls where he wants the elephant to walk by nudging either his left/right ear~

I caught sight of the sickle thing hanging on the elephant's ears~ And he didn't seem to mind. He or she I didn't really get to find out. My elephant's name, by the way, was Bang Bang.

And Bang Bang poses!!!

Trudging through the waters~ Bang Bang stopped moving for a while, and I was wondering what it was doing when I heard a loud splash from behind~

Right...that explained it...it was erm...crapping~

The waterfall!!! Bang Bang didn't walk to the falls la, but I later did. ;)

Look at this thing. How could I not???

Nope I'm not gonna just stand there and take pictures~ I'm diving in man~ Despite the fact that it was COOOOOLLLLLDDD~~~~

Weeee~~~~~~

I tell you, standing under the waterfall & getting a waterfall massage, is hea-ven-ly~!!!!!!!!!!

After that we headed back to the villa, had a nice shower, then prepared for Valentine's Day dinner~!

Had read reviews on the Samui magazines and trip guides about this place in Bophut known as Krua Bophut Restaurant. It's about 20-30 minutes bike ride from our villa~

The place was beautiful~~~

And even more so in the day~

We had problems getting an outdoor seat as they have been fully reserved.

I should've asked the hotel to call and help us book! Because from the time we came in, to when we left, most of the seats outside were empty!!! I suppose the reservations were for the whole night and didn't require people to state what time they would be arriving...

-.-"

Which isn't fair for those of us who actually bother to go there early!

Oh well~~~

I'll sit inside then~

The food was good though, so that more or less made up for the disappointment.

The drinks were served in mugs like these. So cute! Half the time I was trying to hold the mug where the nose or eyes were... *sadistic*

Food was inexpensive~ Total amount for 2 came up to like SGD50? Including 2 drinks (mine's a cocktail), 1 appetiser like the one shown above, 1 soup, 2 dishes. For fine dining, the price is worth it.

For those of you who are heading there, do call before you go. Who knows, maybe if I stood outside, made a phone reservation, THEN come in, I might have gotten a beach table? =)

Btw, the restaurants along Bophut ALL look quite good. So if you don't mind not going for recommended fine dining (I chose it only because it was V Day), experiement and try the other restaurants! Bophut is Koh Samui's Fishermen's Village, and knowing seafood, they can hardly go wrong, UNLESS they aren't fresh. ;)

When we headed back to the villa for the night, they surprised us with 2 glasses of champagne. With I-forgot-what's-the-name-of-this-flower. Funny thing was, Me, Matthew and Joey were musing about the fact that Joseph threw this exact flower into his champagne during our CNY gathering!!! It's some preserved flower in syrup, so if you eat it, it's actually sweet.

And when I went back to my room, the villa had left a nice stalk of rose on the bed~ Awww~~~

Perfect ending to a Valentines' Night~ I slept like a baby that night~ =)

Thank you nice article.your next trip…Phuket is the best choice for you!!I love here Surin Beach Hotel This hotel is very nice clean and the people are friendly. VERY nice hotel with helpful staff.And I really love white sand, crystal clear waters at Surin Beach too.Thank again.